The Office Tribute

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Since the UK Version of the Office came out years ago, I've been hooked with this series. At first I thought that the US version wouldn't come close to the original but boy, was I wrong!

Too bad that the UK version was never shown here in the Philippines but the US version is.

This one is a cool tribute video to the show. Kind of hard to get into it if you aren't that familiar with the show. But still, it's still funny.

TV Website, tv-links.co.uk raided

The arrest and the closure of the site - www.tv-links.co.uk - came during an operation by officers from Gloucestershire County Council trading standards in conjunction with investigators from Fact and Gloucestershire Police.

Fact claims that tv-links.co.uk was providing links to illegal film content that had been camcorder recorded from cinemas and then uploaded to the internet. The site also provided links to TV shows that were being illegally distributed.

Ugh! Why do they have to raid it before Heroes Season 2 episode 5, Fight or Flight? Couldn't they have raided it after that show? Well, not as if I use the link. I just heard about it.. nyuk nyuk/

Well, here in the Philippines, it seems they're rushing to put out the second season of Heroes out on air lest they lose viewership by putting it off any longer.

Anyway, I did like tv-links.co.uk. Too bad it's permanently down now. It was a virtual TV/Movie heaven for junkies like me. Specially for us in the Philippines where stuff like Penn and Teller Bullshit, Doctor Who, The IT Crowd aren't even aired.

Baybayin - The Ancient Script of the Philippines

The word baybayin is a very old Tagalog term that refers to all the letters used in writing a language, that is to say, an “alphabet.” It is from the root baybáy meaning, “spell.” Early Spanish accounts usually called the baybayin “Tagalog letters” or “Tagalog writing.” And, as mentioned earlier, the Visayans called it “Moro writing” because it was imported from Manila, which was one of the ports where many products from Muslim traders entered what are now known as the Philippine islands. The Bikolanos called the script basahan and the letters, guhit...

...although the baybayin had spread so swiftly throughout the Philippines in the 1500s, it began to decline in the 1600s despite the Spanish clergy's attempts to use it for evangelization. Filipinos continued to sign their names with baybayin letters throughout the 17th, and even into the 18th century, though most of the documents were written in Spanish. Gaspar de San Agustín still found the baybayin useful in 1703. In his Compendio de la lengua Tagala he wrote, “It helps to know the Tagalog characters in distinguishing accents.” B17 And he mentioned that the baybayin was still being used to write poetry in Batangas at that time....

Baybayin is basically the Philippine alphabet. Some Filipinos have been sporting tattoos with their names spelled out in Baybayin.

Funny that this Philippine way of writing is being resurrected because of the growing trend of tattoos here in the Philippines.

What's that song again?

Oh I do believe
In all the things you say
What comes is better than what came before

And you'd better come come, come come to me
Better come come, come come to me
Better run, run run, run run to me
Better come

I Found A Reason
Cat Power

Ever wonder what song is being played on a cable channel to promote Sex and the City? I believe the cable channel is ETC or 2nd Avenue (these are Philippine Cable channels by the way so I don't expect you guys outside of the Philippines to know about this but just bear with me, hehehe).

Weird but that song I think isn't even featured in the show. It's actually in the movie V for Vendetta (which coincidentally is being played on HBO Asia at this time). Just watched it and decided heck, I'll blog about the song.

Funny though, because this is just a cover. The original was done by Velvet Underground. The cover by Cat Power though has a more poignant touch to it than VU's rendition. I remember watching her on David Letterman last year.

Anyway, I like this as a rainy Philippine sunday afternoon lounging on the sofa doing the crossword puzzles with a ballpoint pen kind of song. Don't you think?

Although, in the Philippines, a rainy Philippine sunday afternoon lounging on the sofa doing the crossword puzzles with a ballpoint pen kind of day is hard to come by...

Gay Vatican Priest has detailed list

ROME -- A high profile Vatican cleric suspended after he was shown on television making advances to a young man allegedly had a list of homosexual priests and bishops in the Roman Catholic Church's governing body, Italy's Panorama weekly reported Friday.

Father Tommaso Stenico, 60, had "a detailed dossier" of all the homosexual clerics at Vatican "with a list of names and circumstances implicating a certain number of priests and even bishops working at the Curia," Ignazio Ingrao, reporter for the conservative news weekly said.

A detailed dossier? Hehehe.. wonder if this will be brought up on Sunday sermons the world over. Specially here in Philippine churches.

Don't forget that we have a Pope who wears Prada shoes and Gucci sunglasses. And he's not even Italian.


But then again, you should see some of our Philippine priests. Although I can imagine what a filipino pope would wear...

Mall bomb blast kills 8, hurts more than 100

MANILA, Philippines -- The explosion that ripped through the Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City early Friday afternoon, killing eight people and wounding more than a hundred others was caused by a “hard explosive,” mostly likely TNT or the military ordnance C4, police said...they have yet to determine whether the explosion was set off by a timer or triggered remotely by cellular phone, the signature attack of the Al-Qaeda linked Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah and the local Abu Sayyaf.

I expect that within the next few weeks, security in malls here in the Philippines would be tight. And that tomorrow, most malls would be a bit less crowded.

Seems the Ayala Corporation, who I think are the kings of spin when it comes to attacks to their malls, can't get away with this one now. Notice that when the news broke out, the word "bomb" wasn't used as prominently as now? Those guys over there remind me of that Mayor guy in the Steven Spielberg movie, Jaws, who kept denying there was a shark in the beach.

Obviously it's bad for business but then again, we're talking about public safety here. Grow a conscience, guys.

It's better to burn out than to fade away...

This by far, to me, is the best Kurt Cobain performance ever. Ironic that it's not even a Nirvana song. It's from the MTV Unplugged Sessions. Any die hard Nirvana fan would agree with me that the MTV Unplugged performance is the closest connection one can have with the band. There was a time, it was hard to get a copy of it. I remember around 1994 a little after his death that I finally manage to grab a bootleg of that performance.

As for the title of this post? Well, any decent Nirvana fan would know what that means. Ask one.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, Kurt Cobain. I'm a real heavy Nirvana dude. I mean, I knew where I was the first time I heard of the band. I still remember the moment, I saw my first Nirvana video (Smells Like Teen Spirit). I even remember when I first learned of his death (I was in a tour bus). I even have the Time Magazine issue about it. And living in the Philippines, Nirvana news and bits were hard to come by.

It may come as a bit of a surprise though that no one really knows how much a die hard Nirvana fan I am. I never really talk about it since Nirvana is as close to personal as I can get.

For years, I have tried to get a hold of the book Perfume by Patrick Suskind because it was one of Kurt's favorites. He kept a copy of the book about him, and identified himself with the main character there, Grenouille. He even wrote a song about it, "Scentless Apprentice" in their album In Utero. Funny that it was a hard book to find in a Philippine bookstore. It's always sold out. I finally got one as a Christmas gift. I keep that book close to heart.

I got to like the jap pop band Shonen Knife because I read somewhere that it was one of Kurt's favorites. I remember the first Shonen Knife song I heard was Top of The World in The Carpenter's Tribute Album, If I Were A Carpenter.

My tribute to the memory of Kurt Cobain may probably be milkshakes. When he came out of a coma, that's the first thing he asked for, a strawberry milkshake. So as a rule, whenever possible, I order a milkshake in memory of the guy.

It's not that I'm obsessed with the person. Believe me, this probably will be the first time anyone who knows me will know about Kurt's influence on my life. It may even come as a surprise because to them I come off more as a Pearl Jam person than a Nirvana dude.

Breathe. Just breathe.

"...2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to..."

Breathe (2AM)
Anna Nalick

That one is a real close song to me since I don't know when.

Funny that when I started up my music player, that this song started playing. It kind of reminds me of some fun facts. Appropriate now that Halloween is close approaching.

1. Despite my fervent endorsement of Chasing Amy. No one close to me has ever seen it.
2. Nirvana to me is the greatest but Pearl Jam's Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in a Small Town is my personal fave number one song.
   

   It's kind of about a lady, and she's getting on in years, and she's stuck in this small town. Small towns fascinate me: You either struggle like hell to get out, to some people want to stay 'cause then they're the big fish in the small pond, and then others just kind of get stuck there. So here she is working in this little place, and then an old flame comes in, and he's probably driving a nice car and looking kind of sharp - not a fancy car, but he's moved on. And then she sees him, and at first she doesn't even remember who he is, and then she realizes who it is. She's just too embarrassed to say 'hello'
   
   That's Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam talking about that song.



3. Firefly, The Office (UK and US Versions), Red Dwarf and the IT Crowd are my favorite TV series.
4. I just got into Heroes because of one person. I'm now up to date with all the episodes up to Season 2 Episode 2, Lizards.
5. Sylar is my favorite "Hero" because of all, he's the only one who truly embraced his abilities. The rest just whine and cry about what happened to them.
   
6. I'm not really a fan of online chat. And without a solid reason to, I don't really log on.
7. I have a phobia with ringing phones.
8. Due to events of past years, I've become more of a black and white person. No gray areas for me now.
9. I've never really actively looked for a relationship. Never went out to meet people for that matter. They just happen.
   
10. I've had relationships that started because of the weirdest reasons:
1. I was just lying in the couch and this girl (who's a friend, of course) just went up and kissed me. That lasted less than 3 months.
2. I was invited to a party and I met a girl who just got out of a self imposed "no boyfriend for 2 years" exile and said she'd hook up with the first guy she meets. I was the first guy there since I wanted to leave early. 7 months.
   
3. Although we were just casual friends, she mentioned that she'll be there for me for "49 Million Years". I thought that was cute. 6 months.
4. I kissed her and she kissed back. So much for that. 2 years
5. As she left, crossing the road, I wished she would stop and look back. She didn't. 5 months.
11. I hardly ask for anything. Most, if not all, know that. I even have a hard time telling people where I want to go, when on a date! I always defer to the other person. It takes a lot from me when I request for something and that's very very rare.
    

It's been a real wild 2007 for me. I've compromised a lot. I've given up a lot. I've hit my lowest point. I've basically withstood everything thrown at me and to tell you the truth, that kitchen sink really hurt!

I don't even know the purpose of this post. Just some funky rambling. It's neither here nor there. Well, I think that sums me up at this moment.

Alone. Lonely. Lost.

Now all I got to do now is breathe. Just breathe.